This study conducted by neuroscientist Brian Gold finds that people who have been bilingual since childhood have faster brains and suggests that this kind of bilingualism can slow the mental decline in aging. Both seniors and younger people’s bilingual brains were also found to be more efficient at performing certain mental activities involving switching between tasks.

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Being multilingual, you are kinda force to think more than usual. Most of the Bilingual Americans like myself, still think and dream mostly in English, but because of our other languages and cultures, it takes more work and effort to do certain activities (especially those that involved your family and others who speak your other language).

I’m not surprised if this helps our mental capacities. Of course, it depends on each individual. Not all multi-linguals are Einsteins nor are they immune to diseases such as dementia and alzheimer’s.

It still pisses me off that we didn’t have ANY other language learned in the home — a regret I’m still trying to make up for years later. RATS!

http://www.8asians.com/author/ancientone95131/ jeffat8asians

It’s understandable that it happened that way. Dad, although he speaks at least four languages, wasn’t around a lot because of his Navy job. I don’t know if you know this, but Mom only learned Tagalog when she came to the US. After I started learning Tagalog in college, I noticed her grammar mistakes and heavy use of Taglish. She forgot how to speak Surigaonon because there was no one to talk to in that dialect, and when she was talking to her parents after being away for so many years, she used a strange mix of Tagalog and whatever Surigaoanon she remembered (Dad would speak to them in Ilonggo and it seemed to be close enough that he could make himself understood). So I don’t get angry about that because it was understandable. More annoying is how Filipinos make fun of Filipino Americans trying to learn Tagalog (which basically discourages them) but think it is cute when someone white says things in Tagalog (e.g. Travis).

http://www.facebook.com/tinabot Tina Tsai

There’s been a lot of research in linguistics and cognitive psych that have leaned towards advantages for bilinguals. It’s nice to see the neuroscientists catching up (:P to neuroscientists, j/k, I love your work).

Personally, aside from having “faster brains”, I think to me the value of knowing a language is the access a person then has to a whole rich culture of world heritage.

Even though I speak Chinese pretty fluently, my pretty limited literacy abilities makes me sad because I know there’s 5000 years of culture, ideas, and experiences I don’t have easy direct access to because I don’t read Chinese fluently enough. Best I can do is read the English translations. Sad. This will be a retirement project of mine.

Best way to learn a new language is TV shows. Especially dramas. Korean language has spread quite a bit this past decade.

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